5 Time Hacks That Increase Daily Productivity

5 Time Hacks That Increase Daily Productivity

Time is money, as the saying goes. And while we’ve worked on a bunch of college hacks and hints on how to work your money to the best, we haven’t devoted enough time to, well, time. But rather than deal with how to save time in college, I decided to take a more unusual route. Instead, here are a grab-bag of time related hints to help you. Gamble a minute of your time to see if it’s worthwhile.

1: Forget Snooze Alarms

You know that alarm you set every morning? The one that goes off on the weekends because you’re going to go jogging? If you haven’t used it, and I mean actually followed it in the past two weeks, get rid of it. Might as well not interrupt your sleep and ironically you might actually wake up a touch earlier without it beeping you awake in the middle of the dream where Kanye finally acknowledges you as a rap-star who can fly.

2: Spend Time like Money

If you’re spending three hours a day playing Fifa or watching television, that may be fine. Do you enjoy it enough to spend your time on it or are you killing time, which is the same as burning money? If it’s the latter, do anything else, including napping. Naps are like depositing time in the bank for later.

3: Set your Clock Seven Minutes Earlier

I do, at least, and the psychological boost of waking up every morning going “Woah!” and thinking I’m late is better than any alarm, and being able to glance at it going “oh it’s late” and then getting to subtract is a lot more fun than doing the other. It’s a great way to set a perpetual seven-minute head-start in your day.

4: Figure out your Exchange Rate

Would you spend two hours working for five dollars an hour? Maybe, maybe not, but what if it was to save money? Would you drive around town to find a slightly cheaper gas-station, trading twelve minutes for two bucks? Is that Taxi really worth the saved twenty minutes right now? Money is flexible as is time in its value at the moment- half an hour with a beautiful girl is worth way, way more than seven hours on a plane- but it’s good to set a baseline in your head for what you’re willing to spend your time on. Pro-tip? Worrying about that girl texting you back isn’t a good way to spend it.

5: What’s Time to a Kid?

Lastly, I’d like to tell you not to worry about time. I know it’s counter to the article at large, but to obsess over time wasted and time spent is the surest way to waste time. Will it be worth it to spend that hour in the car to go to the lake and the hour back? Maybe not. Will it be worth it when Sean has to double-back and you’re tapping your foot anxious to go? Maybe, maybe not. But the potential for greatness and good times means you sometimes should make bad choices because hey, what else are you doing today? At this age time can always be sacrificed to one thing: pursuit of the timeless. That’s one thing the exchange rate doesn’t account for.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lev Novak is a Junior and English major at Tufts University. He has currently shopping his first novel, and has previously written for College Humor. Lev also claims to be the second-best freestyle rapper at his school, which, if we're honest, is one of the sadder boasts we've ever heard.

LATEST STORIES

I’ve always had this idyllic image of winter break: wearing fleece pajamas and slippers, drinking hot chocolate, and reading a novel by a warm fireplace. Unfortunately, I spent the last 11 years of my life in Florida, so that was never what my winter breaks looked like. My winter breaks usually ...

The position of bartender is an iconic role in American folklore. Think of Moe from The Simpsons or Coach from Cheers. The bartender is someone who not only fills our glass, but lends a helpful ear when we’ve got problems or just need a friend. But what are bartenders really like? Let’s ex...

One of the best parts about being a full-time college student is probably the awesome extended breaks we get over the winter and in the summer. There are some downsides to those long breaks, though—boredom, feeling unproductive, or ending up strapped for cash right when you want to do some holid...